Adjust Rules On Setups

Our Towns

Simsbury

April 22, 2003

As Simsbury Town Attorney Robert M. DeCrescenzo said, the zoning provision that prohibits the restaurant at Simsbury Farms from providing glasses and corkscrews to patrons who bring their own beer and wine fails the test of common sense.

Guests at the restaurant will either have to bring their own setups or drink their beverages from open bottles and cans. This may defeat the purpose of allowing beer and wine in the first place, namely to make the town-owned recreation complex a more inviting place to gather and socialize.

Yet Simsbury selectmen approved a lease with the prohibitive language for the restaurant's operator essentially to avoid running afoul of existing ordinances and state laws.

Zoning rules forbid the sale and service of alcohol on town property without special permission of the somewhat puritanical zoning commission, which has been unwilling to authorize the practice in the past.

Aiding the drinking of alcohol with glasses, corkscrews or ice could also make Simsbury financially liable under the state's Dram Shop Act regarding individuals killed or injured by an intoxicated patron, Mr. DeCrescenzo said.

Simsbury isn't the first town to sanction beer and wine drinking at a municipal facility. Hartford's Pond House Cafe in Elizabeth Park has been permitted to serve alcohol in its banquet hall. Considering that Simsbury officials have agreed to allow beer and wine at the restaurant, they should find a way to make it convenient for the people they are trying to attract.

One way would be for the town to change the zoning rules to allow for setups at Simsbury Farms while restricting the sale of alcohol on town property. Another way may be for the commission to issue a special variance applicable only to the restaurant.

With a little effort, town officials should be able to make empty glasses legally available to restaurant patrons.